Memorial Day

I love Memorial Day, and this particular last weekend was a busy, albeit enjoyable one. I want to cover a brief discussion of the weekend so that I can boast in my own accomplishments, but may wax a little eloquent later about my thoughts the last couple of days later on. Amy put me directly to work on Friday afternoon following work, as I began fixing up the deck. There was scraping chipping paint from the ceiling, a difficult endeavor given the bizarre collection of nails poking through the wood. Then came priming/painting. My neck still hurts thinking about this. I wandered the deck rolling and brushing white on to the wood, trying to dogde drips of paint (again, because of the nails). When I finally finished in the dark, I was sweaty and covered in paint! I looked like I'd sacrificed a paint bucket and shook it over my head.

Saturday the project continued with a trip to Home Depot for supplies and then a difficult task of putting up lattice on the ceiling. Nothing in our house can possibly have been constucted straight, so aligning lattice, nailing it in and cutting the sheets was not easy. But a few hours, failed attempts and use of power toys later I finished. We (wisely) decided not to paint the lattice - and it looks great! Amy planted flowers during the whole deck wrangling, so our home looks very homey (at least outside).

I've determined that I should be translated for culinary excellence! Mom & Dad held a BBQ at their house, and I was of course the caterer. Sunday night, between 8 and midnight, I smoked pork (Boston Butt) on the grill. My latest work with Mesquite chips paid off well, and when I wrapped up the BBQ that night I had hit perfection!

The BBQ was a lot of fun, a variety of family and out-of-town friends - 16 in total. Lunch was a hit, from the queso dip I made (including roasted hot peppers) to the BBQ pulled pork and homemade coleslaw. They all left feeling mighty satisfied. Beyond food there was swimming, volleyball, talking and just having a great time in the beautiful weather. The girls were expert swimmers, jumping in the pool and trolling aroudn with their new water wings. They had as much fun as I did. I even played a rousing game of volleyball with those young whipper snappers Adi brought up from DC. It was nice to humble them a little!

Earlier in the morning we hit a parade with Cindy, Reed, Belle and the girls. I love parades - esp the patriotic ones. More on patriotism later.

So all in all a perfect weekend - a little sore, somewhat sun-kissed - but fulfilling. What beats, home, family, food and the red, white & blue?
HRP
I'll post pics when I get them from Amy.